The Simoncics have had their Grand Mission house on the market for more than three months. Amber Simoncic said she and her husband had not necessarily expected a quick sale, but they are somewhat discouraged considering that they have had 20 to 25 showings already but no buyer in sight.

In early March, the couple lowered the asking price on their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home to $170,000, from $180,000.

They received an offer on their 2,400-square-foot home, which was built in 2007 with about $20,000 in builder upgrades, the first week it was on the market for about $10,000 less than they were originally asking. Because they had just listed it, they felt they had room to negotiate.

"As soon as we went in with our counteroffer, they came back and said they just couldn't afford it," said Simoncic, who has already moved with her family to a larger home in north Katy. "If I had known then what I know now, we obviously would have taken that first offer. It's been pretty disheartening."

The median price of houses outside Beltway 8 fell to $70.40 from $72.33 between 2010 and 2011, a 2.7 percent decline, according to the latest Crawford Realty Advisors real estate analysis commissioned by the Houston Chronicle. That market was responsible for 81 percent of all home sales in the Greater Houston area last year.

Katy real estate agent Rick Dittemore of Keller Williams Premier Realty said one of the biggest factors affecting home sales in Katy is the new construction that continues in many of the master-planned communities. But also coming into play, he said, are the high number of foreclosures that are sitting on the market outside the Beltway.

"A lot of neighborhoods had started to grow like crazy, but because of what happened between 2004 and 2008, when if you could basically just breathe on a mirror you could get a loan, a lot of people are finding themselves totally upside down," Dittemore said. "The values still haven't recovered from that, and we don't know when they will."

But for Kaushal and Visha Brahmbhatt, low prices lured them into the first-time homebuyer market.

The Brahmbhatts had been leasing an apartment in Stafford and casually looking for a house when they found a newly built four-bedroom home in the Creekmont neighborhood of Fresno, just west of Texas 288 and south of Beltway 8, in late December.

'Such a good deal'

"We found a new house that was in our budget, and the interest rates were good, so we thought, 'Why not?' " Kaushal Brahmbhatt said. "It was such a good deal that we bought the house and broke our lease."

Imperato said well-maintained homes are selling in the area, as long as sellers spruce them up, even if that means just applying a coat of paint or replacing carpets.

"There are very sophisticated buyers out there right now, and they are taking time to compare and contrast houses and do a lot of educated looking," she said. "They want homes for the best value and in the best condition. If you have that, they are selling.

Within reason

While all areas outside the Beltway have pockets of neighborhoods that are bucking the trend of flat home prices, the key seems to be pricing the homes within reason, especially in areas where new construction comes into play.

"Some sellers still think they can price their homes high and expect to cash in, but that is not the case right now, especially while builders are still building in certain areas," said real estate agent Karim Pirani of Re/Max Elite, who specializes in Sugar Land and southwest Houston. "In many areas, homes are selling like hotcakes, but this is a time when the reality check comes into play."